Hawkins lands solid recruiting class despite 2-10 record

DENVER ” Dan Hawkins overcame his trying first season on the football field to land a top-notch class in his first full recruiting season, led by Columbine High’s Ryan Miller.

Colorado’s coach, who had a truncated recruiting season after taking over the program 14 months ago, landed the coveted, 6-foot-8, 310-pound lineman who was courted by Notre Dame.

Miller is the Buffaloes’ highest-profile in-state signee this decade.

“It’s big in a lot of ways that you have a kid from in-state that views us as a big-time marquee program that has that kind of confidence in us,” Hawkins said. “It’s also for those people that know Ryan, that have interviewed him or been around him and get to know him, he’s a tremendous, tremendous athlete. He is. He’s a great football player. I told him if he went to a Division III school he would still be an NFL player, he’s that kind of a guy.”

Rivals.com rated Colorado’s recruiting class as the 31st-best in the country, just ahead of Wisconsin and Missouri, and Ryan is the gem of the group.

“The awesome thing, too, is he’s totally our kind of guy. He loves Colorado. He’s a very humble kid. He’s a blue collar guy. He’s a hard worker, tough guy. He is a guy that when he is in your football program, everybody knows that he is a marquee player but he’s a marquee guy, too,” Hawkins said. “And you have a guy that sets the bar not only for the talent that you want, but also your attitude, your approach off the field the school and everything else. He’s tremendous that way.”

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Miller has experienced quite a growth spurt over the last several months and because he doesn’t turn 18 until this summer, the Buffs believe he might grow even more.

Miller helped Columbine beat Mullen for the Class 5A championship with two big defensive plays that preserved his team’s 13-10 win. First, he chased down Phillip Morelli at the 13 after the running back who is bound for Colorado State had already raced 80 yards. Then, he pressured Minnesota-bound quarterback Clint Brewster into throwing an interception.

What was Hawkins thinking when he saw him chase down Morelli?

“I’m thinking that I’m playing him at tailback,” Hawkins said. “That’s the thing, he’s a phenomenal defensive guy, too. We had him in our camp this summer and we’d throw the ball to him and he’d catch the ball. And he’d kind of rib me and say, ‘It’s great to catch a ball again, Coach. It’d be great to score a touchdown at Folsom.’ And I’m like, ‘Hey, you might. You might sack the quarterback here, too.”‘

“He’s a tremendous talent. I totally see him as a guy that can come here and be an

All-American and help us win a national championship and get drafted by the (Denver) Broncos,” Hawkins said. “That guy could be another John Elway type of guy. He could. He’s that kind of person, too. I totally believe that. I know that that’s lofty things for a kid that 18 years old, but trust me that when Ryan Miller hears that, it’s not going to go to his head. He’s going to go, ‘I’ve done nothing yet.’ That’s the kind of guy that he is.”

Assistant head coach Chris Straqusser was equally as effusive in his praise for Miller, whom he said “is obviously a top national recruit and that part is great for the program, but he is also a pretty unique guy, for a guy of his size to move like he does is phenomenal and he is just a strong, strong person. He’s very grounded and ability-wise there is no question on what he can do, and I think the thing that people don’t know about him is how great of a person he is.”

The Buffs signed 28 players, including four junior college transfers.

Although only a dozen were defensive players, Hawkins likes what he sees on defense.

“I don’t think that the formula for football is really all that complicated and all that hard. You win championships on defense. I think that all starts on the defensive line,” he said. “I think we have done a good job of getting some good players and some numbers in there that we feel very good about. When you look at that formula of talent, experience and depth, there is a size component. One of the things I am very excited about is last year I think we had 11 guys pull 300 pounds off the ground and right now (strength coach Jeff) Pittman projects 48. We really hope that we will be a stronger football team this season.”

The class includes eight linemen, two quarterbacks, two running backs, a tight end and three wide receivers on offense and two ends, three tackles, two linebackers and five backs on defense.

“We sprinkled some guys in at every position,” Hawkins said. “I think the quarterback position is very critical, and I like the two guys we brought in here. One has some experience (Nick Nelson), and one has enormous potential (Matt Ballenger). I like the group that we have. I think we have a group that is passionate about coming to Colorado.”

Nelson is a 6-1, 200-pounder from Saddleback College and Ballenger is a 6-4, 215-pounder from Skyview High School in Nampa, Idaho.

The football players who signed national letters-of-intent Wednesday with the University of Colorado: